4.5/5 ★ – Fernofai's review of Frostpunk.

I played Frostpunk a few years ago, but recently replayed it again, which is already a very good sign. There is something unique and new in almost every aspect of Frostpunk. It is set in an alternative 1886 where an extremely long and harsh winter forces people out of their homes to settle around a giant heat generator. Nobody knows how long the winter will last or if there will ever be another spring. The setting is enhanced by great graphics - I especially liked watching how the snow fills up recently heated or cleared paths - and a great melancholic soundtrack and sound design. For the best experience, play this during winter with a comfy blanket and hot chocolate milk. The temperatures then become colder and colder while you, as the leader of this newly engendered society, have to manage classic strategy game stuff like resource gathering, building homes, exploring the surrounding area, and researching new technologies, all while taking care of your citizens by providing enough coal, heating devices, food, and medical treatment. In every other strategy game I've played, you reach a point somewhere in the game where you have workers and resources in abundance, and you don't need to think anymore about which technology to research next or what buildings you really need - you simply build and research it all. In Frostpunk, it's not like that. You are always walking on a very narrow edge between survival and death. The generator needs more coal than you can produce, you don't have enough people to send to work, or when you have enough, they are lacking food. And if you finally achieve something like a self-working system, the temperature drops by another 10 degrees, and everyone is suddenly freezing. Alongside this, the game requires you to make some very hard decisions at times, which your people may not like. You can enrich the food with sawdust, pass a law that allows child labor, or build watchtowers to monitor the streets and workplaces. There are many possibilities to solve your problems, but you can't afford everything - resource-wise or morally. There is nothing in this game that is overly complicated or unnecessary. You can play through the main story in about 10 hours, which is maybe a bit short - but on the other hand ensures that everything is well balanced and dense. Apart from that, there is also an endless mode and several shorter scenarios. Everyone who likes strategy games, survival games, steam- or anything-punk games, or, at best, all of it must play this game.